


In Her Garden

by orphan_account



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bonding, F/F, Grief/Mourning, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:46:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22702663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: She said she would come back.
Relationships: Pink Diamond's Pearl/Spinel (Steven Universe)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 37





	In Her Garden

**Author's Note:**

> Do not repost on another site.

There was laughter. There were smiles on every face. There was the smell of organic life, fresh, green.

There was Pink Diamond, tall and fair and the youngest. She turned up her nose, making faces, chuckling so hard she had to hold herself still.

"Are you Steven Universe?"

There was Spinel, ever the jester. Stretching and bouncing whatever way fit her mood best. Whatever fit Pink's desires. Pink was to be kept entertained. Spinel was good with entertainment. She was made for it, cut and cleaved with perfection.

"Yes?"

And there was Pink's pearl, a willowy thing. Long and tall with a soft whisper of a voice. Her gem, twin to her Diamond's, resided on the dip of her stomach.

"Good."

\---

Some day, some season, some fixed point in time. Some perfect moment, unable to be altered by the nostalgic filter of memory.

The garden's flowers were in bloom: colorful forget-me-nots and fragrant hibiscus and specklings of jasmine here and there. It was a world untouched, a world for Pink and her plaything.

There had been an interloper, however. Pink's pearl, a dainty thing, was in attendance. Spinel had taken to hiding behind a pillar. She peeked out at the scene, the two of them laughing amongst themselves, and only came out of hiding when her Diamond coaxed her to.

"Don't be scared. This is my pearl." Placing a hand on Spinel's back, she pointed to the Gem in question. She waved.

The scent of budding roses wafted over. Something in Spinel squeezed.

She hadn't been afraid. It was something else, foreign to her.

She laughed. It was nervous.

\---

Pink's pearl began to pop up every once in a while. Slowly, her appearances became more frequent. After some time, she appeared each time Pink entered their garden.

Pink once clapped her hands, seated on the ground. "I want to see you dance."

"Oh, I haven't in ages," Spinel said, giving her best sheepish face.

Pearl was at her side, hands crossed in her lap. "I've never seen you dance."

There it was again, that awkward chuckle escaping from her mouth. She felt the urge to reach up to her lips and shove it back in. "I'm not very good."

Pink had leaned in, close to one of her pearl's intricate buns. "She's so good. She's just shy."

"I- am _not_ shy," Spinel had huffed, crossing her arms. 

"Then show us!" The pearl had called, beaming.

She was so bright.

Pink had clapped again, eagerly, happily.

Covering her warm, warm face with her hands, she turned, and then began to jig. It was light and carefree, easy motion. Nothing too complicated. She didn't want to pull out the big guns yet.

And as soon as she knew it, Pink was joining in, hopping, floating, flipping. A burst of laughter came from her chest. She was spritely. She was as light as air.

And then, lifting from her perch, was Pink's pearl. She spun. She leaped. She moved like nothing Spinel had seen before. She was graceful and gentle. 

And when she collided with Spinel, the wrong turn of an ankle, she was petal soft.

\---

She had landed on her back. She opened her eyes. She lifted a baby pink hand- so unusually pale and-

This wasn't her form. 

She- they?- jumped up with enough force to frighten Pink Diamond, who had been ogling them.

The puffy sleeves. The messy buns. The rounded cheeks. The pink eyes.

The sum of their parts.

Pink was staring. She just kept staring.

They made a frightened noise and made to come undone, shoot apart, but Pink raised her hands.

"Wait, wait, please!"

They waited accordingly, clutching themselves. This was... wrong? Right? There was no word for it.

It was all encompassing. Every sense and every thought was amplified. There should have been two, but there was one.

They were first.

"Wait," Pink repeated, lips trembling.

They were frozen, looking at their Diamond. Their eyes burned.

And with the softest gust of a sigh, she finally smiled, lifting their chin. 

"I think I like you best like this."

\---

The stars had moved many times since then. There had been much fun, much laughter, many smiles that they shared since then. Pink had returned after a long reprieve, smiling a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. They pulled her into a hug anyway, arms looping around. She tensed in their grip.

"I have to go," Pink said, pulling back.

"So soon?" They asked, eyes pleading, lips pursed.

"My colony needs me. Blue and Yellow said I need to... prove to them that I can handle it."

"But-"

Pink held up a hand. "They can't find me playing around. A Diamond without a colony? What kind of Diamond is that? You can keep each other company, right?" She stepped up the staircase. When she stood on it, the warp began to glow.

"When will you be back?"

"Soon."

With that, she was gone.

She said she would be back.

But she was a liar.

\---

It had been ages.

They had been standing still for forever. Same position, hands clasped, waiting. At one point, they had broken it to gather blooms, but they had withered in the years, decaying in their palms like rotten fruit.

It was so silent. They hardly talked to themselves. They were so focused on Pink's return. There was no room for doubt.

But the transmitter popped to life.

But an organic boy spoke.

But his mother.

But _Pink_.

But she was gone.

Gone gone _gone_.

They ran, but it was too late. It flickered, then died. They screamed so hard that they fell apart. There was another shriek behind her, one of agony. Spinel smashed her fists into the device, tears streaking her cheeks. It was like there had been an explosion. It was like there was nothing left of her. It was like she was about to-

"Spinel."

Her eyes widened. Back from the brink. She was not going to implode into a cloud of dust. She was going to drop to her knees, struck silent.

"Look at me."

Pearl was-

Her eye was gone, splintered. There were bits of it in her pink palms-

_She had broken it._

Spinel looked on in horror, tears spilling again.

"He's on her world. Earth."

"What?"

Pearl held out her hands. Spinel clutched them to her chest.

They-

That's not right.

 _She_ did what she did best, glowing in the best and worst of ways.

She ascended the ruined staircase.

She disappeared in a beam of light, shot across galaxies, under stars. There was no happiness.

So much for Pink Diamond. She had a new purpose.


End file.
